The Insurance Department denied requests by two insurance companies to boost their rates by more than 12 percent for 2015.

The department denied Anthem’s request to increase its rates on average by more than 12.5 percent. In its decision, the department called the increase “excessive.”

Anthem, which faced public scrutiny at a public hearing in June, was asked to resubmit its rates to the Insurance Department for consideration.

“As we demonstrated during the course of the public hearing, the rates requested in the application were excessive and unsupported by sufficient evidence,” Attorney General George Jepsen and Healthcare Advocate Victoria Veltri said in a statement. “This ruling requires Anthem to resubmit its application in accordance with the department’s recommendations — which will result in lower rates than Anthem had requested.”